Module ENGL2061: LITERATURE OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD LEVEL 2

Department: English Studies

ENGL2061: LITERATURE OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD LEVEL 2

Prerequisites

• At least one of the following modules: Introduction to the Novel (ENGL1061), Introduction to Drama (ENGL1011), Introduction to Poetry (ENGL1071).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• Literature of the Romantic Period Level 3.

Aims

• To introduce students, via lectures, to the work of a wide range of authors of the Romantic Period and to key intellectual and historical contexts.
• In tutorials, to foster a close understanding of selected texts and the ability to analyse these lucidly and persuasively.

Content

• The module will include some introductory lectures that establish the framework in which the literature of the Romantic period is to be studied.
• Students will be alerted to current debates concerning the definition of 'Romanticism' as a literary concept, and will be told about the major intellectual and political upheavals of the period, notably the French Revolution.
• The rest of the module will be made up of lectures on a coherent selection of texts chosen to reflect the generic diversity of Romantic literature.
• Examples of works to be covered include collections of poems such as Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience and Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads.
• Long poems such as Wordsworth's The Prelude, Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, and Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan, together with a selection of shorter poems (ode, lyric and 'conversational' forms) by Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, and women poets such as Smith, Hemans and Landon.
• The module will also study a broad range of prose works.
• It may include political prose by authors such as Godwin and Wollstonecraft, together with novels by Jane Austen and Maria Edgeworth, and some examples of Gothic fiction.
• Important works of Romantic criticism, such as Coleridge's Biographia Literaria and Shelley's A Defence of Poetry, will also be addressed.
• Students will be encouraged to make connections between different authors, and to situate individual works in their wider literary, intellectual and historical context. This may include an appreciation of the cultural legacy of Romanticism.

Learning Outcomes

• To be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of texts from the Romantic Period.

• Students studying this module will develop:
• critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts
• an ability to demonstrate knowledge of a range of texts, authors, and critical approaches within this literary period
• control of critical analysis, including the ability to assess other critical readings
• an informed awareness of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature and an ability to offer cogent analysis of their workings in specific texts relating to this literary period
• a sensitivity to generic conventions and to the shaping effects on communication of historical circumstances, and to the affective power of language
• an ability to articulate and substantiate an imaginative response to literature
• an ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to this literary period
• skills of effective communication and argument
• a command of a broad range of vocabulary and an appropriate critical terminology
• an awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated

• Students studying this module will develop:
• a capacity to analyse critically
• an ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way involving the use of distinctive interpretative skills derived from the subject
• a competence in the planning and execution of essays
• a capacity for independent thought and judgement, and ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• skills in critical reasoning
• an ability to handle information and argument in a critical manner
• information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access information
• organisation and time-management skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures: enable students to gain subject-specific knowledge of cultural, aesthetic and intellectual issues in relation to individual works and authors, an area or period, or a theoretical or language-related topic; encourage students to be aware of the range and variety of approaches to literary study; present ideas and information to encourage, on the part of students, further thought and discussion
• Tutorials: enable students to explore, in a selective way, through small-group discussion, specific texts and topics (many of which will be addressed by lectures); to focus on selected literary issues and problems; and guide them in developing subject-specific analytical skills and knowledge
• Formative essays: are written on a text or texts, or a literary topic, and they require the student to demonstrate appropriate subject-specific knowledge and skills, such as the ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to literary study. Written feedback is offered on all formative work. The first essay is carefully marked and returned to students individually in one 15-minute handback session. Formative essays allow for students to explore and try out without risk different approaches to and perspectives on literary texts; both essays are useful for revision purposes. A considerable element of choice of essay topics encourages development in students of their capacity for independent thought and judgement.
• Essay handback: encourages students to reflect critically and independently on their work
• Independent but directed reading in preparation for lectures and tutorials provides opportunity for students to enrich subject-specific knowledge and enhances their ability to develop appropriate subject-specific skills.
• Examination: tests the student's ability to present subject-specific knowledge, to select appropriate materials, and to construct and manage clear and effective arguments in a timed period; to demonstrate independent thinking, and test that students have achieved stated learning outcomes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

2 essays 1500-2000 words each. The second essay is optional.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University